Burglar-alarm system.



No. 666,737. Patented Ian. 29, I901. C. COLEMAN.

BURGLAR A'LARI SYSTEM.

(Lpplication fllld my 6, 1899.)

(No Model.)

Invenfarx UNITED STATES,

PATENT OFFICE.

CLYDE COLEMAN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO GEORGE l3. FRENCH, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, AND FRANK L. HALL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

BURGLAR-ALARM SYSTEM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 666.737, dated January 29, 1901.

Application filed May 6, 1899. serial No. 715,86 8' i110 model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CLYDE COLEMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Burglar-Alarm Systems; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

The present invention relates to an electrical protective system against burglars in which a safe or any other inclosed space or chamber is protected against improper access by means of electrical appliances which shall operate to give an alarm upon a variation in the strength of the current maintained between the place to be protected and the guarded structure containing the alarm mechanism, and which variation in the strength of the circuit will be caused by an improper access to the vault or other like structure.

The object of the present improvement is to provide a simple and eifec'tive protective system in which the alarm-producing means, sensitive to waves of radiant energy in the form of heat or light rays, is shielded or maintained in a normal condition by the walls of the vault or other structure by which such alarm-producing means is inclosed, so that when an opening or entrance-is made in the said walls the condition will be changed from normal to abnormal and permit the waves of radiant energy to act upon said sensitive alarm-producing means and cause the operation of the signal, due to such abnormal entry, all as will hereinafter more fully appear,and be more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating the present invention, Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of an electrical protective system embodying one type of the present invention and in which a thermoelectric pile is arranged within the guarded structure; Fig. 2, a similar view in which a photo-electric impulsion-cell is substituted for the thermoelectric pile of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a similar view in which a selenium resistance is substituted for the thermoelectric pile of Fig. 1.

Similar numerals of reference indicate like parts in the several views.

As represented in the drawings, the general arrangement of line-wires, &c., of the present protective system against burglars will be substantially the same as that now in general use and will comprise a main structure to be guardedsuch, for instance, as a ban k-vaultin which are arranged the alarmactuating appliance, a secondary structure containing the alarm mechanism, and a main controlling electrical circuit, which connects the alarm actuating mechanism in the main guarded structure with the alarm mechanism in the preferably distant secondary structure of the system.

In the accompanying drawings, 1 represents the main guarded structuresuch,forinstance,asa ban k-vault; 2,the secondary struc' ture containing the electrical alarm mechanism; 3, the main controlling electrical circuit extending from the main guarded structure 1 to the alarm-containing station or structure 2; 4, a relay or responsive apparatusunder the control of the main controlling electrical circuit; 5, an electrical alarm mechanism under control of such relay apparatus in a direct or indirect manner, as may be found most desirable, and 6 an alarm-actuating appliance or mechanism arranged in the guarded structure and which in my preferred arrangement of the system, as shown in the drawings, controls a relay or responsive appliance or apparatus 7. in the main controlling electrical circuit.

The present invention relates in the main to the alarm-actuating mechanism or appliance 6 for electrical protective systems, and will comprise, broadly, any suitable electrical appliance or device that is adapted to either generate an electric current or to cause a variation in an independent electrical circuit by an exposure to radiant energy in the form of heat or light, either singly or combined.

In Fig. lot the drawings I illustrate such electrical alarm-actuating mechanism or appliance 6 as comprising a sensitive thermoelectric pile 6, having in circuit the relay or responsive apparatus 7, which in turn is adapted to Vary the strength of the current in the main controlling-circuit 3 to give an alarm. \Vith this arrangement dependence is placed upon the following combined factors as afiording the elements of reliability and efficiency to the present improved systemsi. 6., first, the uniform temperature prevailing within the vault or other like structure where the same is in a closed condition and requiring protection against burglars, and, second, the great sensitiveness of the thermoelectric pile to the action of radiant energy in the form of heat and which will be affected to produce an alarm by any sudden change of temperature within the guarded structure due, for instance, to use of the electric arc, drill, or explosive in a surreptitious attempt to enter the vault or to the presence of a person within the vault, the radiant heat from whose body will be sufficient to affect the thermo-electric pile and cause it to operate the system.

In Fig. 2 of the drawings I illustrate such electrical alarm-actuating mechanism or appliance 6 as comprising a photo-electric impulsion-cell 6 as a substitute for the sensitive thermo-electric pile 6, (shown in Fig. 1,) the arrangement of the other parts being substantially the same as shown and described in connection with Fig. 1. With this arrangement dependence is placed upon the same factors or conditions described in connection with Fig. l, with the one exception that the photo-electric impulsion-cell 6 is sensitive to radiant energy in the form of light-rays and will be afiected to give an alarm by the rays from the light carried by the burglar in examining the contents of the vault, by the light from the voltaic are or explosives when the same are employed to effect a surreptitious opening through the doors or walls of the vault, as well as by the light that may be admitted by the surreptitious openings in the doors or walls of the vault.

In Fig. 3 of the drawings I illustrate such electrical alarm-actuating mechanism or appliance 6 as comprising a selenium resistance 6 and a local battery and circuit 8 as a substitute for the sensitive thermo-electric pile 6 (shown in Fig. 1) or the photo-electric impulsion-cell 6 (Shown in Fig. 2.) With this arrangement dependence is placed upon the same identical conditions or factors above described in connection with the system illus trated in Fig. 2.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an electrical protective system, the combination of a vault or other like structure the walls of which are impervious to waves of radiant energy, a sensitive electrical device arranged within such vault or other like structure and adapted to operate upon the admission of such radiant energy through an opening or entrance in such walls, and an electrical signal appliance controlled by such sensitive device, substantially as set forth.

2. In an electrical protective system, the combination of a vault or other like structure the walls of which are impervious to waves of radiant energy, a sensitive electrical device arranged within such vault orother like structure and adapted to operate upon the admission of radiant energy in the form of heat-rays through an opening or entrance in such walls, and an electrical signal appliance controlled by such sensitive device substantially as set forth.

In an electrical protective system, the combination of a vault or other like structure, the walls of which are impervious to waves of radiant energy, a sensitive electrical device arranged within such vault or other like structure and adapted to operate upon the admission of such radiant energy through an opening or entrance in such walls, a relay or responsive apparatus controlled by such sensitive device, a main controlling-circuit extending from the guarded structure to the alarm-station and controlled in turn by such relay apparatus, an electrical alarm mechanism, and an alarm -station containing the same, substantially as set forth.

4. In an electrical protective system, the combination of a vault or other like structure the walls of which are impervious to waves of radiant energy, a sensitive electrical device arranged within such vault or other like structure and adapted to operate upon the admission of radiant energy in the form of heat-rays through an opening or entrance in such walls, a relay or responsive apparatus controlled by such sensitive device, a main controllingcircuit extending from the guarded structure to the alarm-station and controlled in turn by such relay apparatus, an electrical alarm mechanism, and an alarmstation containing the same, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof Witness my hand this 4th day of May, 1899.

CLYDE COLEMAN.

In presence of ROBERT BURNS, H. A. NOTT. 

